by Joel Beers

The Space Problem

This story on the problems many small Orange County theater are having in finding spaces to mount their productions published six weeks ago. Then again, considering I just realized this blog somehow switched to private about four week ago, makes me think no one’s going to give much of a shit if it, or anything else, ever gets published on this sorry excuse for a blog.

But i gotta leave a trail of digital breadcrumbs so a.i. Jesus can find me once he starts looking, so here it goes.

https://www.cultureoc.org/post/hey-brother-can-you-spare-an-empty-space

Without a space of its own, the Alchemy Theatre Company has staged productions in some unlikely venues, such as the Lone Wolf Brewing Company in Placentia. Here, Brutus (Brandon Sanchez) gives his reasons for stabbing Caesar to the tipsy senators in Alchemy’s production of “Drinkspeare: Julius Caesar.” Photo courtesy of Katelyn Abaya

by Joel Beers

Transparency 101: david Emmes’ dissertation on SCR’s early years

If you got here by clicking on the hyperlink in part one of my two-part series on South Coast Repertory and new plays, you’re in the right place. If you were notified of this post and got here that way, it will make no sense to you because the story that this PDF relates to won’t publish on Culture OC for a couple of days.

But since I quote from this dissertation several times in part one, i wanted to make sure that anyone interested in more context regarding it could access it. I found it fascinating, as its author is David Emmes, the co-founder of SCR, whose doctoral dissertation was an in-depth look at the first 10 years of SCR’s history.

I had to link it as a pdf on my blog because i only stumbled on it through some long descent down an internet rabbit hole where i wound up on Proquest, which is not a database (if that’s what it is?) easily accessible to all.

SOUTH_COAST_REPERTORY_1963-19Download
by Joel Beers

Senior Moment

Latest Culture OC story about a theater inside what used to be somebody’s house. Think about that for a minute: a theater with a stage and space for 60 chairs. In a house. Do you have any rooms in your house that could accommodate a state and seating area, not to mention the lighting, fly space, back space, sound and light booth and everything else that goes into it?

If your house is that big, can I move in?

https://www.cultureoc.org/post/cabrillo-playhouse-catches-a-second-wind

by Joel Beers

20 Years of Schooling and They Put Me on the Opera Shift: First Time Writing About Opera

Apparently, opera is a real thing. And I interviewed the most successful living opera composer. It’s the first time I’ve ever written about opera. Seen two, I think. Walked out of one. The other was the one where Alfalfa sang “Barber of Seville.” Which i think is the name of the opera? Anyway, this one isn’t that. It‘s “Two Remain,” composed by Jake Heggie.

by Joel Beers

Closest thing Anaheim will get to a series this century–UPDATED WITH ACTUAL LINK AND PART 2

Headline is a baseball reference, but how were you supposed to know that?

But the story is the first of a two-part series on one of Orange County’s legit arts and culture success stories: Chance Theater, only the third non-community or non-higher-education subsidized theater in Orange County to last 25 years. The other two are South Coast Repertory, where I have spend some of my most enjoyable evenings as a critic; the other was STAGES Theatre, where I spent some of my worst evenings as a playwright.

But enough about me.

You have to go here to find it, because I couldn’t figure out how to make a hyperlink on Linkedin.

https://www.cultureoc.org/post/chance-theater-is-built-to-last

And here is part two:


by Joel Beers

Closest thing Anaheim will get to a series this century

Headline is a baseball reference, but how were you supposed to know that?

But the story is the first of a two-part series on one of Orange County’s legit arts and culture success stories: Chance Theater, only the third non-community or non-higher-education subsidized theater in Orange County to last 25 years. The other two are South Coast Repertory, where I have spend some of my most enjoyable evenings as a critic; the other was STAGES Theatre, where I spent some of my worst evenings as a playwright.

But enough about me.

You have to go here to find it, because I couldn’t figure out how to make a hyperlink on Linkedin.

by Joel Beers

Humor in a Jugular Vein

Latest piece about Orange County theater, a preview i typed about the Costa Mesa Playhouse’s production of Martin Mcdonagh’s breakthrough play, “The Beauty Queen of Leenane.

https://www.octheatreguild.org/post/beauty-queen-of-leenane-costa-mesa-playhouse

by Joel Beers

Artificial Dylan

Or
How I Learned to Stop Being Willfully Ignorant and Started Fiddling Around with ChatGPT

I readily admit i don’t know the first thing about artificial intelligence, although I sure hope it isn’t as flawed as so many examples of human intelligence that I have encountered in my time.

But I do know it’s a mighty big talking point. At WonderCon earlier this year, a panel of comic book professionals wrapped up with comments about the various projects they were working on with an extended dialogue about AI sparked by an audience question. The tone of the collective panel? Bleak. As borne out by one quote from Tom King:

“It’s coming for us all.”

I also know that AI is tied up in the Hollywood strikes, the weirdo from X thinks it will make humanity extinct (even as he creates a start-up AI company), the federal government is starting to use it to protect the country’s cybersecurity while there are calls in Congress to hold hearings to look into it (which always screams regulation to me), and it’s an issue that many in two industries that I am somewhat affiliated with, journalism and higher education, are very concerned about. See this story by a journalist about higher education and AI.

By and large there seem to be two opinions on AI:

Existential threat or greatest advance in human technology since Hot Pockets. And it tastes great and is less filling for Christians, too! (At least the Fox News kind of Christians).

Like any upstanding citizen who wants to be informed, I look to the internet (as you’ve no doubt noticed) and i read article after article but invariably my eyes glaze over and it’s time for a nap. I’m not a scientifically oriented person and, to use the academic phrase, I have no fucking idea what AI is, how it works, or what it can do.

But I do know about cats landing on their feet and Bob Dylan. So I did a little internetting and found a site that allows you to use ChatGPT, which somehow uses AI to generate text from prompts you type in and started fiddling around with it.

I am sure going to that site i’m now on several international watch lists and my phone will soon start blowing up with all kinds of wonderful deals on this or that AI product. But no one said the pursuit of knowledge didn’t carry inherent risks.

After using it, I still have no fucking idea how it works or how it could save or destroy us. But I am pretty sure that AI is better than us.

At least in generating a song about Bob Dylan singing about the mystery of cats landing on their feet. And here it is:

🎵 Well, there’s a mystery in this world, folks, gather ’round and see,
About them furry little creatures, as nimble as can be,
They got paws that dance like shadows, as they take a daring leap
, It’s the age-old question, how do cats land on their feet? 🎵

(Chorus) 🎵 Oh, it’s a twirl and a swirl, a mid-air feat,
In the dead of night or on a bustling street,
With their whiskers and their grace, they make a mystic treat,
Oh, the enigma of cats landing on their feet! 🎵

(Verse 2) 🎵 From the highest ledge to the lowest ground,
They spin and twist, not a single sound,
With their tails held high and those eyes so neat,
It’s a riddle of nature, cats landing on their feet. 🎵

(Chorus) 🎵 Oh, it’s a twirl and a swirl, a mid-air feat,
In the dead of night or on a bustling street,
With their whiskers and their grace, they make a mystic treat,
Oh, the enigma of cats landing on their feet! 🎵

(Verse 3) 🎵 Now, some say it’s magic, others call it skill
, A feline acrobat, with a purring thrill,
But deep down in their bones, it’s a secret they’ll keep
, Oh, the marvelous wonder of cats landing on their feet. 🎵

(Chorus) 🎵 Oh, it’s a twirl and a swirl, a mid-air feat,
In the dead of night or on a bustling street,
With their whiskers and their grace, they make a mystic treat,
Oh, the enigma of cats landing on their feet! 🎵

(Outro) 🎵 So the next time you see a cat in a leap,
Watch in awe and wonder, as they start to sweep
, It’s a nature’s puzzle, oh, so neat,
The timeless mystery of cats landing on their feet! 🎵

Now who owns the copyright to this?

I don’t know who owns the rights to the photo of the minstrel with the cat, but I plucked it off this website.

by Joel Beers

Audio for Nick Boicourt memorial, 7-9-23

This is the audio recording of the memorial for Nicholas Boicourt Jr., held at the Back Alley Bar and Grill Saturday, July 8. Unedited, so there may be some issues. It kind of falls apart around the 57th minute, but seems pretty good until then,

Also, I’ve included what was supposed to be the start of the digital booklet for the service, a poem written by Lydia ONeil, It may still be the start of the digital booklet, but right now it’s right here,